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Police, Dec. 4

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Someone took several steel pipes from a yard on state Route 940 in Hazle Township owned by Raymond Starrick, 83, state police at Hazleton said.

Troopers said Starrick told them several pipes, three to four inches in diameter and eight to 10 feet in length were taken between 3 p.m. Nov. 29 and 7 a.m. Monday. The thief fled in an unknown direction.

Anyone with information is asked to contact troopers at 570-459-3890.

Pair charged with theft of Christmas trees

A Hazleton man and woman are accused of stealing Christmas trees from a Hazle Township store Sunday.

State police at Hazleton said Durain Dino Nika, 34, and Radovanko Nika, 65, were each cited for retail theft.

They are accused of parking in the fire lane in front of Walmart, where they pulled the price tags off two Christmas trees displayed outside the store for sale at about 5:30 p.m., troopers said, and then put them in the bed of a pickup truck they were driving.

Troopers said the pair were approached by a store door greeter who asked them to see a receipt but the two entered their vehicle without showing the employee a receipt and left without paying for the trees - each valued at $39.98 plus tax.

A license plate number was obtained for the truck the Nika's were in and troopers later located the vehicle double parked in front of a home in the 800 block of Vine Street, troopers said, where they recovered the trees in the truck bed.

Two-car accident caused by deer

A 17-year-old Tamaqua girl was not injured in a two-vehicle crash in East Norwegian Township involving a deer Saturday at about 5:40 p.m.

State police at Schuylkill Haven said the teen was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Adam J. Kasten, 20, Middleport who was traveling south on state Route 209. Kasten, troopers said, was hit by a vehicle driven by Louis A. Fernando, 73, Middleport. Fernando, police said, was driving north on the road when a deer entered Route 209 and he swerved to his left to avoid hitting it but in doing so, lost control of his vehicle which began to spin clockwise and eventually hit Kasten's.

Kasten was also not injured. Fernando and his passenger, Barbara E. Fernando, 73, also of Middleport, sustained minor injuries.

After impact Kasten's vehicle spun and traveled south for about 21 feet before stopping facing north, while Fernando's vehicle, traveled about 90 feet north and stopped facing north. Both vehicles were partially blocking the northbound lane, police said.

He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Stephen J. Bayer, Tamaqua, Saturday and unable to post $5,000 bail, was remanded to prison.

Police said they were called to South Hancock Street for a man that had taken ill on the sidewalk. When officers arrived they saw Brodie and another man walking into a bar and told them to stop but the men refused so police followed them into the barroom and took Brodie out side, who appeared intoxicated, court papers state.

Police said they told Brodie they would take him home but Brodie allegedly got upset and as officers attempted to handcuff him, he "put his head through a window outside Charlie's Bar," police said.

Police said Brodie was eventually handcuffed but he tried to slip them off and threatened police. He was taken to Hazleton General Hospital for treatment of scrapes on his hands, which occurred when he was being handcuffed and became unruly with the ambulance crew, court papers state.

Police investigate case of stolen van

State police at Hazleton said an 83-year-old Berwick man's vehicle was stolen from his garage in Berwick and later found in Hollenback Township.

Donato Dalo's vehicle, a Chevrolet Mark III custom van with a Penn State license plate, was driven to and later found unattended at a Council Cup parking lot, troopers said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 570-459-3890.

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